


Lumos

by aizawamegumi



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, SixTONES (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 19,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27131617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aizawamegumi/pseuds/aizawamegumi
Summary: SixTONES Hogwarts AUbased on one of my threads on Twitter!
Relationships: Jesse Lewis/Morimoto Shintarou, Kyomoto Taiga/Matsumura Hokuto
Comments: 11
Kudos: 45





	1. First

**Author's Note:**

> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!

"Ugh, can't we just stay in the common room or something?" Taiga complained as his friends dragged him to the benches. "It's Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff today! Duh, don't you have a Hufflepuff friend?" asked Yue. Taiga's friends were twins with pale white hair; Ayame had it long below his waist and Yue shaved it in a buzzcut. They were both a little more built than him.

"I do?" Taiga asked back, squinting at the players. "Oh Shintaro! How did I not know he's playing?"  
"Well for one, you hate flying and anything related to it." Ayame replied. The chasers of both teams swooped in front of them and Yue and Ayame cheered. "Right. We're here for the fucking boys aren't we?" Taiga said in a bored tone. "Well those boys are aight, but look at their fucking captain." Ayame pointed to the center of the field, where Ravenclaw's seeker was searching for the snitch. "You can't even see him from here how can you tell?"  
Yue gently slapped him on the arm. "Are your eyes closed during potions class?" he asked. Taiga shook his head at him in an as-a-matter-of-fact manner, and Yue understood. Yes, he was. Taiga would and could sleep in almost every class. They brought their attention back into the game. Everyone's hollering and chasing and beating garnered a long yawn from Taiga. Even watching Shintaro whiz around wasn't that fun because he didn't know what was happening. The brooms ran too quick for his sleepy eyes and he couldn't even keep track of the scores because the commentating was drowned out by cheers. A few more moments later, Hufflepuff's seeker seemed to have found the snitch. Ravenclaw's seeker/captain went after it. "Look Taiga, there he goes! How the hell does he look so delicious?!" Yue exclaimed. Taiga groaned out loud at his friend's fanboying and finally focused because he had to disagree; no one can be hotter than him.

Hufflepuff's seeker zoomed above the audience, reaching for the snitch as it zigzagged inches away from his reach. Ravenclaw's seeker swooped from the other side, making the snitch leave from Hufflepuff's contact. The snitch quickly flew in front of the benches, both seekers flying after it side by side. It whizzed through the air again and floated about half a meter away from Taiga's face. The seekers went after it but Ravenclaw spiraled around the air so fast that his broom's turbulence sent Hufflepuff to the far end of the court. Ravenclaw's seeker, dark haired, sharp jaw, tan skin and deep, beautiful eyes upside down on his broom, met stares with Taiga. He reached his hand out and before the snitch touched the tip of Taiga's nose, Ravenclaw won the game.

-

"I'll follow! I'll just clean up after all of you dumb asses." Hokuto said and his team laughed as they left. He was really out here mothering them after the games for the past 3 years. When he was done clearing things out with a few waves of his wand, he proceeded to change.

"Hey."

Hokuto glanced behind his shoulder, barely paying attention. He rolled his eyes and turned his back again. "What do you want?"  
Taiga frowned. Hokuto continued to remove his shoes, socks, gloves, and then ruffled his hair. "Are you from the school newsletter?"  
"We have a newsletter?" Taiga made a disgusted face. Hokuto laughed. "Alright, I guess not then. Are you gonna take photos while I undress?"  
"Excuse me?" Taiga scoffed. "That's what people flock around me for; unsolicited photos, to write rumors about my body or personality. Or give me love potioned shit. Which are you, huh?" Hokuto put his hands on his sides.  
Taiga rolled his tongue in his mouth and crossed his arms, annoyed. "I just came to say hi you airheaded piece of shit." Taiga spat out. Hokuto raised an eyebrow and took a step forward. Their sharp gazes meeting.

"Aren't you that sheltered blondie who owns a manor. The one who doesn't take classes seriously just because you can." Hokuto smirked. "What did you just--! You know what, you're fucking rude, I'm turned off now." Taiga waved his hand and turned around to leave but Hokuto pulled him by the wrist, and moved towards him. "You were... Turned on?"

Taiga did not back down. He shook Hokuto's hold off and stepped closer. "I came to say hi and tell you that I can take you any fucking day."  
Hokuto walked up more until their foreheads touched. "Aww but you're not turned on anymore, are you? How can you take me now?" he said in a mocking, low voice, Adam's Apple bobbing up and down.  
Taiga's upper lip twitched in frustration and he grabbed Hokuto by the collar of his shirt, pulling him into a seething kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	2. Connect

Taiga powered his way through the crowd in front of Hufflepuff's tent and got in without notice. He searched for a familiar face among the team and finally found one of the beaters.  
"Shintaro!"

Shintaro turned around to see who it was, earring dangling around as he did. "Hey, Taiga!" Shintaro beamed and they reached for a hug. "How are you?! I haven't seen you since 1st year!" said Shintaro. "I'm good, all good! Just came by to say good luck!"  
"Aww, thanks man. Hey look, we gotta run so how about we see each other after the game?" Shintaro suggested as he walked Taiga out of the tent, the rest of the team charging out too. "Sure! I'd love that! Why don't we meet at the--"  
"If it isn't Morimoto." a red headed guy in Gryffindor's quidditch uniform interrupted.

A smirk formed in Shintaro's lips and Taiga turned around to see who it was. "Jesse." Shintaro acknowledged the opponent's beater. Jesse walked up to them and Taiga moved to Shintaro's side. "You really think you can handle this?" Jesse asked teasingly, narrowing his eyes. "Oh I _know_ I can." Shintaro answered proudly and for a moment, Jesse's eyes wandered at Shintaro's thick arms. "Aww the lil stud thinks he can beat us." Jesse smiled at his teammates who all chuckled. "Try me, Jesse." Shintaro's tone changed. "Oh I will, Shintaro."  
The two guys stared into each other's souls, the quidditch game edging them both. Taiga cleared his throat loudly. "Alright then, I'll see you later Shintaro!" he said in a sing-song voice and jogged away from the tension in the field.

-

"So, your friends?" Kochi asked, tagging along behind Taiga who finally found them seats between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. "Unless it's Slytherin playing or there's an absolutely hot guy involved, they don't care for these games." Taiga answered and raised his eyebrows, "I wouldn't too." he finished. Kochi smiled sunny. "Well, thanks for coming with me!" he replied. The games began. Gryffindor exploded with cheers. Taiga frowned at them. "They literally only flew to the air, what on Earth?"  
Kochi laughed at his reaction but kept his eyes on the play. "That's because the moment the game starts, we already know we're gonna win." a guy from behind retorted. Taiga whipped his head around to look at the voice; a Gryffindor with pink hair, chugging his flask of hopefully juice or water. "Yeah, like I care." Taiga huffed. "Hiss hiss bitch."  
Taiga's mouth hung open, surprised from the boldness, but the guy only winked at him. "You should be in Hufflepuff if you're cheering for them." he said.  
"Yeah Kochi why aren't we in your side of the--"

Hufflepuff scored. There was a massive boo-ing and cursing from Gryffindor and scattered cheers from Ravenclaw. "Well, my friends here so." Kochi answered, eyes still on the game. "What?! I thought Shintaro wanted me to come with you because you didn't have anyone to go with? Oh that's it, I'm heading back to the castle."  
"Okay so," the guy with pink hair walked up to Taiga and stood beside him. "Who among the players are you cheering for? Oh, I'm Juri by the way."

Taiga was confused for a moment but shook his hand anyway. "I'm uhh- one of the Hufflepuff beaters is a childhood friend."  
"Right, right. Guessed as much. None of the players look like Kyomoto Taiga's type." Juri said and Taiga laughed at him. "You hear funny stuff."  
"Ah, funny but true. Wanna hear more?" Juri asked. Taiga looked at him, intrigued. "Okay, tell me what you have on others then."  
"Well, uhh, oh for starter's; Gryffindor's captain, Sohma. His girlfriend broke up with him because he accidentally turned her into a pig."  
Taiga laughed out loud. "Okay, but thats your house's captain. How about a lower profile?"  
"Okay then umm. Oh, that guy over there, at the end of Ravenclaw's bench. Name's Kei. He got into detention last week because he gave one of the dwarves a sock. Apparently, he's been letting one out every week."  
"No!" Taiga gasped and Juri just slowly nodded. "And then beside him is his bestfriend Sarah. She was the one who snitched him."  
Taiga laughed again. "Wow you know everything you shouldn't."  
Juri smiled and pointed at a random person again. "How about that guy, you know him?"  
Taiga followed Juri's direction. He gulped and blinked nervously, not really wanting to know stuff about that guy. He took a moment and then nodded hesitantly. Juri continued.  
"Ravenclaw's quidditch captain, Hokuto. Apparently, he's a virgin... Until last November."  
There was a collective gasp from all houses in the audience and everybody directed their gazes on the ground, except for Taiga who froze on his spot, staring at Hokuto.

-

Shintaro ran down the hallway and finally reached the hospital wing. He caught his breath at the entrance and went in. On one of the bed's in the middle, he found Jesse.

During the game, Shintaro was chased down by the other Gryffindor beater. While he was flying away and thought he was far enough, the beater hit the bludger real hard towards him. He got ready to take the blow, definitely not willing to get knocked off of his broom, when Jesse flew in front of him. The next moment, the bludger hit Jesse so hard that he collided with Shintaro and they rolled on the ground. Jesse ended up on top of him, face pained; the bludger hit him on the neck. It would have directly hit Shintaro on the head. It was his miscalculation for wanting to take it, he thought.

Jesse shifted his eyes sideways to see who was coming when he heard footsteps towards him.  
"What are you doing here?" he giggled to himself. Shintaro stood over him at the side of the bed, head lowered as he fidgeted with his fingers. He kept pursing and unpursing his lips, trying to say something that didn't come out.  
"Shintaro?"  
"I'm... I'm sorry." Shintaro's voice trembled. "Wh-- no! This is nothing! Madam Pomfrey said I'd be fine in 3 days tops." Jesse assured, chuckling a little.  
"But you hate medicine."  
"Yeah but-- don't worry boo, I'll be fine! I can move and all, just not my neck. Ow, OW! Yeah, definitely not my neck." Jesse struggled as he sat up. "You didn't have to... You were probably scolded by your team weren't you?" Shintaro asked sadly.

Jesse chuckled. "No, not at all. He said he didn't mean to go for your face and they uhh. Well they laughed at me for taking a bludger for the opponent." he shyly said. "Still, I'm really sorry."  
"It's fine, all good! Don't worry about it, okay?" Jesse said, tipping Shintaro's chin so he would look at him. Shintaro's eyes were cloudy with tears but they still shone when he finally smiled.

Madam Pomfrey walked down the hall, carrying a tray of food and medicine as she walked into the hospital wing. It was for the injured Gryffindor beater. As she entered, she paced up because she smelled smoke.  
"Is that-- WHY ARE YOU TWO GRILLING MEAT IN HERE?!"  
Jesse and Shintaro choked on their food and their laughter as she scolded them away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	3. Good Company

Taiga waved his wand in the air, while staring at his charms book. Kochi stared at him pitifully. "You've been practicing spells for like 3 hours now when you're already done with charms and DADA. All you've read last night was History of Magic and Astronomy. Why don't you just--"  
  


"I HATE POTIONS, OKAY! I HATE IT!" Taiga shouted and they got nasty stares from the people around them. He grunted and plopped his head on the table. "Thank you for sticking around." Taiga pouted and Kochi sighed. "Sure. Why don't you take a break? Maybe you're just burnt out." Kochi advised. "I can't believe I've been studying for everything except the exam tomorrow."

"I can't believe it too, but here you are."

"Knew I heard you. You guys studying together, huh?"

Taiga looked up; it was Shintaro. "Kochi, I was gonna ask you something about Herbology. Do you mind helping me out?" he asked, scratching at his ear. "Sure thing, take this seat beside me." Kochi offered the chair at his right. "Well, okay just... I have absolutely no idea about the magic for plants' growth."

"You don't have to sound so proud about that." Kochi laughed. "I focus on the practical part, okay! Don't worry, I'll bring you anything you want from the kitchen tonight!"

"Yes, yes alright." Kochi nodded. After hearing food, Taiga finally decided that his sanity can be held together by a few snacks. "I'm just gonna go out for a bit, I'll come back later." he said and stood up, stretching his limbs. Shintaro and Kochi bade him goodbye and he left the library.

Apparently, it was already 3PM. He walked down the hall, squinting at the sunlight through the arches as he stretched his arms and yawned. He turned to the dungeons, where Slytherin's common room was so he can pick up his food and chat with Yue and Ayame for a while too. He passed by a group of Slytherins half-shrieking half-whispering and when he set his eyes straight again, he saw a guy crouching between two pillars. He was reading a book in the dark spot. After looking closely, Taiga knew who it was. He walked up and crouched down next to him, arms resting on his knees. "Hokuto." he softly called. Hokuto almost jumped up in surprise, his glasses slightly falling off of his nose. Taiga smiled.

"You scared me." Hokuto hissed. "What are you doing here?" asked Taiga. "A bunch of Slytherins were begging me to help them with Potions and they forcedly brought me in but I managed to shake them off and hide... Wait, are they still around?"

Taiga giggled. "No one's around." he answered. Hokuto sighed in relief and they slowly stood up. "So uhh, I better go." Hokuto said, dusting off his shirt. "Oh, you're studying Divination?" Taiga noticed, tilting his head to read the book Hokuto held. "Yeah, for tomorrow. I better focus. See ya."

"Wait!"

"Hm?"

Taiga had to blink to look away. Hokuto looked good in glasses. And in that shirt. And with a book. His hair was styled differently today too. "Can you help me with Potions? You're like, really good at it aren't you?"

"Didn't you just see me hide from a bunch of dimwits over that?" Hokuto scoffed. Taiga pouted. "They asked you because they wanted to fuck you! I already have! So I got no reason to use Potions as an excuse and force you! Whatever. Good fucking riddance." Taiga snapped and proceeded to walk away. Hokuto threw his book and it hit Taiga on the back of his head. He turned around slowly, furious, and walked up to him. "What the hell?!"

Hokuto grinned. "Fine, I'll help you." he said, gesturing Taiga to follow him. "Wait, I have to get my snacks first! Hokuto! Ugh!"

**-**

Juri and Jesse lounged around in their room, papers scattered on the floor, ink splattered at places. They have been trying to study for a while now but their brains wouldn’t cooperate. “Man, I fucking hate Divination.” Juri grunted, “And fucking Astronomy. And Herbology. And History. _Especially_ History.”

“Basically studying.” Jesse laughed, enumerating Charms terms in his head. “I think it’s the bed Jesse, we got to lose the bed. It’s--” Juri was cut off with his own yawn, “making me cave in.” Jesse closed his book. “Let’s go to the library then.” He said standing up and stretching. “No, no _you_ go to the library.” Juri said, waving his finger at him. Jesse pulled Juri up by the arms and he slid down onto the carpet. Jesse dragged him all the way downstairs and out of the common room, Juri being a drowsy mess. When they finally arrived at the library, it was almost empty. Jesse found a table to settle in when he heard loud whispers.

“Sorta like pesticide.” said Hokuto. Taiga gave him a very confused look. “It’s a chemical spray that muggles use against bugs.” Kochi joined in to clarify and Taiga nodded. “You should know this because your common room’s easily infested with doxies.” Hokuto smirked and Taiga gave him another, probably the 20th if Kochi and Shintaro counted correctly, offended look. Hokuto enjoyed making him angry. The other two however, stopped studying half an hour ago because the other two's bickering drove them crazy. “Okay fine whatever. And then this wideye one? Did I get it right?” Taiga pointed at his notes. “That’s… you wrote the procedures in the wrong order, see? You _will_ fail.”

“Ugh, why are you so mean to me?!”

“Kochi, I think I’m heading back to the common room my brain is full of potions and insults for Taiga.”

Upon hearing Shintaro’s voice, Jesse scanned the sections one by one until he found the table where he’s at. “Shintaro!” he called out, quiet enough for the library but loud enough for Shintaro to recognize his voice and put a smile on his face. Juri was also slightly awakened, peeking from the side. “Oh, Kyomo.”

Taiga’s face lit up. Jesse and Juri walked towards them. “Guys, this is Jesse. A—a friend from Gryffindor. Jesse, this is Kochi, Taiga, and Hokuto.” Shintaro introduced. “Nice to meet you guys, this is Juri. He’s my roommate.” Jesse gestured to Juri who nodded his head and smiled. “You two emit so much Gryffindor energy.” Hokuto hoped he didn’t say that aloud but the other two laughed so he assumed he did. “I was just gonna say!” Taiga resounded but Hokuto ignored it. “Is it okay if we study with you guys? We’re kind of cramming.” Said Jesse.  
Shintaro took back his decision to leave and stayed with them, discussing Magical Creatures with Jesse as he listened attentively. Juri bombarded Kochi with questions and started taking notes grimly, no one on the table willing to spoil his laziness. It helped Kochi remember things better too. Jesse also taught Shintaro some Defense Against the Dark Arts spells that he couldn’t properly do. Hokuto started laughing to himself when the only potion Taiga apparently memorized is the Confusing Concoction and Taiga bit at his hand for doing so. 2 hours have passed and dinner was served at the Great Hall. They all left the library.

“I’ll be going now.” Said Hokuto. “What? No! Have dinner with us!” Taiga insisted and the other 4 nodded. “Yeah man, it will be fun!” Said Jesse. “I’m not sure about that.” Hokuto tilted his head, looking down. “I am! Come now.” Taiga hooked his arm around Hokuto’s and marched him to the hall, the other 4 following closely behind.

When they arrived at the hall, they sat at the Hufflepuff table seeing that everywhere else is either full or gave them weird looks. “Juri, you might be able to answer this so; what are they looking at us like that for? Definitely not because we’re a rare mix of houses.” Taiga asked, putting a bunch of sausages and fried tomatoes on his plate, making Hokuto eye the food with disgust. “Honey, I made those things up during the match. I don’t know no rumors.” Juri laughed, stuffing his face with lamb meat. “What?!”  
“Oh did Juri trick you into being friends with him through made up rumors?” Jesse smiled. “Wow. I’ve already told those to every single Slytherin I—no of course not! I'm kidding, just to my 2 close friends.” Taiga stopped when Juri and Jesse stared at him, both petrified.  
“So, how did you two meet?” asked Taiga, pointing at Jesse and Shintaro. “Well after you were sorted into Slytherin, I was alone so he talked to me. We were kind of the last ones to be sorted so it was quite a lot of talking.” Shintaro answered. “We’d meet during breaks or when Gryffindor has classes with Hufflepuff. We practice flying together too, sometimes.” Jesse added. “Oh, that’s right you went to our common room a lot! I didn’t really remember immediately because Shintaro and I weren’t close back then… why did you stop coming though?” asked Kochi. Jesse and Shintaro fell quiet. The other 4 looked at them curiously. “Well, we got busy and stuff! You know with—a lot of things.” Shintaro tracked off and took a bite into his steak. They all let the topic go. “So Juri and Taiga? You guys met during a game?” Jesse asked, clearing the air out. Juri and Taiga both said yes. “And Kochi and I met because of Shintaro when this year began. We were together in the train.” Taiga shared. “I see! So how did you two meet?” Jesse asked Hokuto and Taiga. Hokuto stopped chewing, head empty, but Taiga was quick to answer. “We have mutual friends!”

Everyone nodded and believed it.

They talked about quidditch, Taiga being unable to relate to it switched the topic to Shakespeare. Only Hokuto was familiar with it so no one else could follow the conversation. They finally found common ground on detention. Jesse and Shintaro shared rooms that would be empty during particular hours of the day, which Taiga diligently took note of to everybody’s amusement. Juri talked about sneaking alcohol in and spells that help him run around the castle at night. Shintaro talked about stealing food with Kochi who worried endlessly about being caught but enjoyed the food afterward anyway. They had to force an episode off of Hokuto. It was in February, when he received a ton of love potioned chocolates. In return, he gave them some too. Just that they were infused with fart potion.

Dinner started off with food and ended up on fecal discussion. They bade everyone goodbye and promised to study with each other until the end of exams week, and went back to their respective houses. They slept well that night, knowing they had found good company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	4. Loom

Exams were finally over for the third years. They had one more week in Hogwarts and the houses decided to celebrate it through throwing parties.

The Gryffindor common room was booming with music, little sparks whizzing over their heads. They were either dancing or playing drinking games in huddles, which Juri started. Others chased each other around with brooms in the air, spells hitting each other left and right. Some stayed in their rooms, packing up or still recovering from the stressful exams. Jesse joined the chaos earlier, sneaking shots before bolting up in the air to chase the snitch they stole. He snacked and laughed the night away but it was almost 11PM. He went to his room, locked the door and climbed up to his bed. At exactly 11PM, Jesse would cling to his golden necklace quietly and it would disappear for a few seconds in his hold. When he opened his hand again, a triangular crystal with a yellow calendula inside floated over his palm. This bright flower that bloomed in July always made him smile. He held on to the genius spell he cast on it, to the little pendant it returned to at 11:12PM, and on to the boy behind it all. There was so much meaning to the necklace and it didn't even matter when Shintaro held on to it no more.

-

In Hufflepuff's common room, there were loads of food and a large circle where everyone gathered to play spin-the-bottle. They laughed and dared and told each other their truths. Some of them admitted liking each other. Some friendships were reconnected. Some relationships were fixed. Some cried and expressed anger and it was just a big support group. Kochi looked at Shintaro and nudged him on the shoulder. "You okay?" he asked. Shintaro nodded with a big smile. He glanced at the clock. It was 11PM.  
And he was not okay.

-

Ravenclaw tower was silent; only because they staged it to be an escape room. They were divided into 9 groups and were to find their way out of the illusion charms, magical creatures and plants that crept up to distract them, and a few potions that put them into a daze or a deep sleep. The adrenaline was always enough to keep all of them going. When the game was finished, the winning prize was to apparently do whatever they wanna do. One of their half-blood seniors passed around muggle alcohol. There were mixed reactions about it. One requested that they pull a huge prank just for tonight. One requested to kiss Hokuto but his friends, Mao and Kyo, declined for him and they both proceeded to kiss her in his place. It was fun and all until she actually liked kissing Kyo. Some jazz music played while they all talked and some planned the prank. Hokuto slipped out of the tower in his slippers and silk robe and out he went. He wanted to see the moonlight from Hogwarts again since he misses it the most when he goes home. He walked down the corridors and got himself out into the middle of the castle where he can watch the sky in the open. Then, he saw a familiar silhouette walking down the corridor across him, humming a tune. It neared and halted when he saw Hokuto.  
Taiga's face lit up and he waved.

"Why are we going into the forbidden forest again?" Hokuto asked while he dragged himself behind Taiga who tugged him at the wrist. "I wanna see unicorns." he smiled. "And if we see something other than unicorns?"  
"Well... we run. Hey, you can carry me. You're strong." said Taiga. "See, you can't even run and we're just casually endangering ourselves." Hokuto complained. Taiga's hand slid into Hokuto's, lacing them together. "I always know where to find them, don't worry." he assured. Hokuto fell silent and looked away. "You know, Juri told me a rumor that you were a virgin. Until November. That was made up, right?"  
Hokuto laughed. "That's a good one."  
"Right?! I was--"  
"Quite the good guess."

Taiga stopped in his tracks. "It's... true?" he asked without facing Hokuto, who let his hand go. "After we had sex, I bumped into him. We know each other casually so we had small talk. He said he noticed something off about me, but that was it. He just got suspicious and we laughed it off."

Silence.

Taiga turned around to look at him. "Don't feel so cocky about being my first. That means nothing." Hokuto said proudly, smirking. Taiga didn't say anything but his eyes did. Hokuto didn't understand it though, so he looked away. "We better get back inside. We'll get in trouble."  
Taiga was still quiet. Hokuto clicked his tongue and looked at him. "What's wrong?"

Taiga leaned in and kissed him, gentle and sweet and long. Hokuto hesitated to kiss back. Unsure. Of Taiga. Of what he feels for Taiga. Of what happens after Taiga.  
Taiga pulled away and took a moment. "Let's go!" he said and continued to walk off into the forest, a bit bouncy on his heels. Hokuto followed.

They were quiet the whole time until Taiga stopped on a spot and pointed out. "There they are." he whispered. Hokuto looked at the two unicorns basking under the moonlight. "Should we get close?" Hokuto asked but Taiga already sat on a huge rock at the side of a tree, made space and tapped on it, gesturing Hokito to sit beside him. "We only watch."  
"What if watching freaks them out, you creep." Hokuto hissed and Taiga giggled softly. Taiga pulled out his wand from his pocket and waved it over their heads slowly, small wisps of light coming out of its tip. The glowy strings flew over to the unicorns and started to morph into small auroras. Hokuto looked at Taiga and they smiled at each other before returning their gazes at the unicorns. "I don't know, they seem to like it, right?" asked Taiga. "No, I think you just like showing off." Hokuto replied and Taiga giggled again. "Okay then, how about you?" he asked sweetly. "Alright."  
Hokuto took out his own wand and pointed it at the rock beside them, half as big and just as thick as the one they sat on. He whispered a spell unfamiliar to Taiga and with a spark, the rock slowly crumbled into ashes.  
"What was that?" Taiga asked, amazed. "It's like smoking from the inside."

Taiga clung onto Hokuto's arm. "Teach me it!" he smiled, biting his lip.  
"What? No. For all I know, you'll go around baking people's lungs when they piss you off the slightest."  
"Oh come on, only you affect me like that."  
Hokuto raised an eyebrow. "Because you're mean to me! No one else is mean to me! I'll only use it for protection, I promise. Please?"  
Hokuto had second thoughts, staring at the boy and then smiled, giving in.

The night was soon over. Hokuto walked Taiga back to the dungeons, and he was welcomed by empty bottles, broken chairs, wet robes, signs of possible orgies, and drunken Slytherins sprawled everywhere. Taiga remembered they were drinking from 1PM in the afternoon and he had only woken up from being drunk at 11PM. He was glad he did. He went up to his room and stared at all the packing he had to do, which seemed difficult even with magic. He plopped on his bed and popped up tiny black and pink sparks from his wand. With a smile on his face, he fell asleep.


	5. Closed Books

It was the first week of classes in Hogwarts. Jesse, Juri, Taiga, Hokuto, Kochi and Shintaro were now in their 4th year.

Gryffindor and Slytherin were together in Transfiguration class. While Slytherin boys scoffed and glared at Juri as he showed off his skills, Slytherin girls were swooning over him. Jesse and Taiga were seated at the back, finding it so amusing that their friend's ego was being stroked.

"So, how were your summer holidays?" asked Jesse.

Taiga blinked away from Juri, who was turning his own eyes into snake slits. If Jesse wasn't trying to casually converse, he would tell him the truth. He would tell him that it was fucking amazing and then it fucking sucked. He was actually amazed that Jesse didn't know anything at this point.

"Oh, it was fine. Could've been better, I guess. You?" Taiga asked back.

Jesse cleared his throat. If he could, he would tell him how it was the emptiest so far. He would say how it was slow and sad and... "Great! Yeah, it was nice."

They both nodded, their fake smiles fading. They wished hard and silent that the professor would walk into the room already so they didn't have to fill the dead air with their thoughts. Jesse couldn't help it though, and spoke again.

"So uhh, how's Shintaro?" he asked.

"Oh! Actually I don't know. I haven't seen him all summer." Taiga replied.

"Really? Even though you live close to each other?" Jesse confirmed, remembering that Taiga and Shintaro said that last year during one of their dinners.

Taiga felt exposed. He indeed didn't see Shintaro even if he was about 5 meters away. How could he when... "Yeah I had a lot on my plate. Hey! Maybe we can have lunch altogether later? I'll go invite him and Kochi, and Juri can invite... the Ravenclaw guy." Taiga suggested, voice suddenly sounding distant.

Jesse frowned for a moment. As far as he can remember, Taiga and Hokuto had mutual friends and were pretty clingy, so Taiga would remember the guy's name. Jesse wondered if his memory was betraying him.

"Yeah! Good idea, yeah." he agreed after taking a moment and finally, their professor entered the room.

-

Hokuto smiled and sent a sting at the back of Mao's neck. Him and Kyo smiled at when Mao sat up straight, waking up. "Not her fault though. I was wide awake when I entered this class now I can't feel my brain." Kyo smirked.

A few more minutes and the class was finally over. While some students were only waking up from their slumber, others walked out of the room as quickly as they could. A Hufflepuff girl approached Mao on her desk and Hokuto tapped on Kyo's shoulder, asking who it was. "Probably a summer fling. Would be over soon. Come on man, I'm starving."

"Hokuto!" a voice called Kyo and Hokuto's attention when they stepped out of the room.

"Oh. Hey." Hokuto greeted, already wanting out on the conversation.

"What's up dude, it's nice to see you!" Juri greeted.

"Umm, what's up?"

"Let's have lunch together, the six of us! Taiga wanted to--"

Hokuto flinched and then chuckled to cut him off. "Thanks, but I wanna be with my friends for now. I haven't seen them all summer and we kinda have to study too." he said.

"Oh. Okay, I'll tell them. You should join us next time!"

Juri didn't seem to know anything, Hokuto collected. With an awkward smile, he left with Kyo and Mao who ran after them, apparently just broken up with the Hufflepuff girl she talked to.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's the Kyomoto guy. Wanted to have lunch." Kyo replied for Hokuto who seemed a bit shaken.

"Oh. Why didn't you come with them?" asked Mao.

"We're not supposed to see each other again, he knows that. He's probably just trying to stir shit up again." Hokuto ruffled his hair, annoyed.

-

"Hokuto won't come. Friends and stuff." Juri sighed as he sat on the table. Jesse only nodded and they both looked at Taiga for a reaction; nothing. They were both sure he would've protested by now, but he only scooped more beef into his plate. Kochi entered the Great Hall and sat at Gryffindor' table with Juri, Taiga and Jesse. They all greeted him happily and watched him as he sat down.

"Where's Shintaro?" asked Taiga.

"What, you didn't know?!" Kochi beamed. Taiga shrugged, eyebrows meeting. Kochi turned around, searching for something. The other three looked on with him. Kochi finally pointed out. "There! Apparently, he and Asahi got back together!" he said.

"Really?!" Taiga said as he stared surprised.

"You see," Kochi began explaining, "they're like, Hufflepuff sweethearts. Everyone in our house really like them together! They're both really sweet and soft and Asahi took really good care of Shintaro. But, they broke up before 3rd year started. No one really knew why. Then, Asahi took a break for a year. Now that he's back, they're patching things up together."

"You think sweet and soft Asahi would bawl if I took Shintaro away from their table?" Taiga said, standing up. Juri laughed softly.

"Well, Shintaro declined because he wanted to--" Kochi said but Taiga was already walking towards Hufflepuff's table. Jesse waved his wand to pull on Taiga's robes. Taiga turned around, confused.

"Don't. It's fine, let's just eat." Jesse said, hoping his smile masked most of the sadness he felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	6. Wither

"Alright," Juri left a kiss on the blondie's neck and he slid into his shirt. She giggled and bit her lip, smiling up at him before she got dressed herself. The girl clung onto his arm and they stood up from the bed. "I'll... See you when I see you." Juri grinned. The blondie giddily walked him out of her room. They went as far as opening the door. Juri barely stepped a foot out of the room before they shut it back after hearing another door slamming and arguing voices followed. Juri stepped back in and the girl closed the door quietly.

"Maybe when that's done, then." Juri said. The girl pushed up on him and started kissing on his neck. Juri rolled his eyes. "Hey maybe we can--" Juri started but the girl pressed a finger on his lips and frowned. They were silent for a bit as Juri awkwardly glanced at the clock. He wasn't particularly interested in her face now that they both got what they wanted.  
"It's them again." she whispered, lifting her finger away from his lips. "What?"  
"Oh the Hufflepuff sweethearts. Fighting again." she said, walking away and then plopping on her bed. "Shintaro?" Juri asked when he realized whom the other voice belonged to as he pressed his ear against the door. "And Asahi, yeah." the blondie answered. "Again? Do they go on it every night?"  
"No, not really. They either have sex or fight."  
"That doesn't sound right." Juri frowned. The girl snorted. "The only time they become affectionate is probably when they're in broad daylight or in front of a crowd."

"I thought they were in love?" Juri confirmed. "Yeah. _Were_."

  
There was another door slam and the voices were gone. Juri stood in deep thought for a minute before letting himself out. All the lunches Shintaro waved off for this? Doesn't sound so worthy with the guy cursing, shouting and insulting at him. He was not surprised that the couple didn't leave together, Shintaro was left sitting at the couch alone. Juri looked at him and sighed before heading over. Shintaro looked over his shoulder in shock.

" _Merlin's Beard,_ I thought you were--"

"Your abusive boyfriend?"

Shintaro looked away, wiping tears from his cheeks. Juri sat down next to him in front of the unlit fireplace. Shintaro held a golden necklace in his hand. "Y'all take your couple necklaces off everytime you fight?" Juri joked. Shintaro politely laughed. "No, no I--" the necklace disappeared from his palm. "Woah. That necklace did not like what I said." Juri said, looking closer. The next moment, a crystal danced over Shintaro's palm. A beautiful, tiny purple iris glowed inside.

"Cool, huh?" Shintaro smiled. "Yeah almost too cool for your crumbling relationship," Shintaro scoffed and forced a chuckle before Juri spoke again, "Look, we miss you during lunch, man. We haven't seen you since the term started. When we do, you ignore the shit out of us, what does that mean?" Juri nudged him. "Sorry I just... Got busy."  
"What, being verbally abused? Breaking down at 11PM? Dude, I've only known you for a week but I know you deserve better."

Shintaro smiled again, a little ashamed of his current state. It was hurting Juri now. He wish Shintaro didn't look so heartbroken. "Come on man. Lunch with us tomorrow. We'll make you feel better, I promise."  
Shintaro laughed again and Juri stood up, concluding he's seen enough sad laughter and smiles for the day. He patted Shintaro on the shoulder. "Go to sleep. I need to run before the portrait wakes up to his own snores."  
Shintaro said thanks in a tiny, cracked voice and they bade each other goodbye. Juri left the Hufflepuff common room and ran to Gryffindor's

  
-

Jesse sat on the floor and leaned against the cabinet in defeat. He stared at the calendula floating in the air. This was the longest 12 minutes of his life. He did try to be productive by accidentally blowing up his luggage, accidentally blasting one foot off of his bed, and accidentally setting the curtain and carpet on fire. The spell on the necklace was irreversible so he thought destroying it altogether would feel better. Well, now he's sitting on damp, charred carpet.

"Why the fuck does it smell like grilled ass in here?!" Juri choked on his anger as his eyes found Jesse, staring at a crystal that circled in the air with a flower inside. "I bet you thought I was always jacking off at exactly 11PM when I lock the door, huh?" Jesse managed to joke, voice trembling. Juri watched in awe and absolute confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	7. Linger

"Out of my fucking way you dirtbags!" Taiga huffed, slamming students walking in front of him against some wall or some other student. Jesse, Juri and Kochi ran after him.  
"I thought he didn't run?!" Jesse asked as they cut another corner. "Yes, that's before he discovered a newfound bloodlust. Uh-oh hold it." Juri said, stopping the other two. An angry professor stopped Taiga from pushing and levitating people around.

"Good morning, professor!" Taiga smiled, tucking his wand in his pocket gracefully with his pinkies up. "Exactly what are you doing?" the professor asked. "I'm just after my friend's cat that ran away. I'm in the middle of chasing it. Now, if you'll--"  
Taiga was interrupted by the professor clearing her throat and he stayed in his place.

"You are flipping and pitting students against each other for a cat?" she fumed. Taiga gulped, finally realizing it looked bad. He took a deep breath and put his hands behind him. "No, I asked them to move and they knocked themselves over in my behalf... Okay, fine you got me. I was going to reserve seats for me and my friends in the library. We're going to study." said Taiga. The professor eyed him suspiciously, but he kept smiling courteously. "Detention." the professor coldly said. Taiga gaped in surprise.  
"What?! Me studying is THAT unbelievable?! Can't you just dock off points I don't wanna go to detention!"  
Some Slytherins glared at him. "What?! Like you guys earn any of those! Professor, please? I only serve time in detention once a year,"

"Serve time?"

"If I have 5 now, I can't update my detention next year!"

"Update?"

"Yes, they'd make good stories for the children! That I won't have." said Taiga. "Kyomoto, you will come meet me after your classes for detention. Understood?"

In disappointment, Taiga threw his hands in the air. Jesse, Juri and Kochi walked up to him. "Taiga, let's not do this. It's not a good idea to meddle in other people's relationships." Kochi lectured. Taiga turned to them and the three guys immediately protested out loud.  
"Oh no, don't give us that face!" Jesse whined. "You're pouting with one eyebrow up and your head's tilted. Please go back to normal." said Juri. "We are not gonna skin the guy alive, or gouge his eyes out, or cut his nubs off and shove them into his nose, okay? We are going to handle this like proper adults." said Jesse.  
"He isn't treating my friend like a proper fucking adult so I refuse to face him like one. It's either a blow to the balls or the downfall of his ancestral blood." Taiga snarled. "Do you know why we're stopping you?" Juri calmly asked. Taiga crossed his arms, getting more irritated by the moment. "Aside from the fact that you actually might do it," Juri said and both Kochi and Jesse nodded in agreement, "Shintaro is obviously tolerating this because the guy is important to him. We don't even know the situation, maybe it's something that's hurting both of them. We shouldn't make rash decisions. We'll be with Shintaro, one way or another. Okay?"

It took a while and a lot, but Taiga finally agreed to just stress eat the heck out of that problem.

  
-

Taiga lifted the guy's arm off of him, disgusted from the sweat, and quickly dressed up. This guy lasted long but fell asleep minutes after he came. Taiga decided that the guy wasn't attractive enough to sleep next to, so he left the room. 

He wasn't sure if it was the exhaustion creeping in but he was feeling extremely lonely. Sure, Yue and Ayame pointed that out to him. For weeks. Constantly. But he didn't really know what they expected him to do about it. While walking, the door in front of him slowly opened and his thoughts were muddled. He didn't exactly have enough time to hide in the span of the door closing and someone standing in front of him.

"Fucking-- what the fuck?" Hokuto squinted.

Taiga was convinced they both stood there for hours before Hokuto spoke up again, finally recognizing him. "What are you doing here?" he asked. Taiga had to respond. Now would be good but voice won't come out. Air didn't even. He didn't forget how good Hokuto looked like but being reminded of it took his sanity into different levels.

"Kyomoto?"

"W-- I could ask you the same thing! What are you doing here, Matsumura?"

"This is the Ravenclaw common room I literally live here." Hokuto scoffed and walked past him. Taiga's eyes widened. It might be the heat or the hair or the scent, but Taiga was certain.  
"You had sex!" he said with conviction. Hokuto didn't bother turning around or reacting the slightest so Taiga followed him. "You had sex! Who was it? Huh? Some senior? Someone from your team or," Taiga gasped before continuing, "Is it a girl?"

"That's none of your business, get out of here and scrub the cum off of your robe." 

Taiga hurriedly turned around to check his green fluffy robe all over. None. Taiga faced him and Hokuto smirked. "Gotcha." he mouthed and sat down on the couch. He took a cigarette from his pocket, lit it up, and then reached underneath the couch for a bottle of butterbeer. Taiga's angry stare quickly turned into a sad one as he sat in front of Hokuto on the floor.  
"Who was it?" he pouted. Hokuto took a long drag. "I don't fuck and tell. Unlike you." Hokuto answered proudly. Taiga would retort but he was too tired to. "You know I'm not like that." he softly said instead. Hokuto stared at him with a frown and quickly looked away. "You're sleepy. Go back to your den." Hokuto reprimanded.

Taiga scooted over and lied down on Hokuto's lap. "Okay, just tell me this then, how many people have you had sex with after me?"   
"Why the hell does that matter? It's just a meaningless number." Hokuto huffed and drank. "It means something to me." Taiga replied, caressing him on the knee. Hokuto sighed and then answered. "One. And I hate to bear this information with me, but I know whose room you walked out of." 

Taiga smiled.

"You seem pleased with yourself." said Hokuto.

"Of course I am. One." Taiga reiterated.

Hokuto continued to drink and smoke while Taiga fell asleep on his lap, eyes closing, breathing slowing. Hokuto and Taiga haven't seen each other from the last two weeks of the summer break until tonight. They never tried to meet or make contact again because they promised not to. At least Hokuto took that promise seriously. Taiga pursued him for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every other day. More than admitting that the invitations stopping was sad, Hokuto wished Taiga knew that it was for the best. It's amusing that they're not trying to claw each other out of their clothes or debating over candy. Hokuto would've liked this; the quiet, a cigarette and butterbeer, the deep night, and Taiga. Taiga, above all. Although, they did just fuck different people. He wondered if at least they mutually didn't like that idea.

Hokuto finished his stick and drink and stood up, startling Taiga who was halfway into his sleep.

"I'm going back to my..."

Taiga smiled at him with those somber, pretty eyes. Hokuto knew what it meant. "Walk by yourself. How are you worse when you're sleepy than when you're drunk?"  
Taiga breathed a giggle. Hokuto really wished he didn't know him so well to the point that he can actually plot psychological crime against him if he wanted to. Hokuto rolled his eyes and stared for a moment but no, he was defeated. He hoisted Taiga up on his back and carried him to the Slytherin common room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, chapters are divided by the time they happened! If multiple events are in the same chapter, those events happened in the same day! Thank you for reading and following the series. What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	8. Run

It was Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff tomorrow, so Hokuto snuck out to the training grounds that night to practice, until Taiga snuck up on him. Taiga said he was only there to watch but proceeded to shout nonsense at Hokuto, effectively distracting him. They both didn't know how they ended up making out after, it just happened. Taiga backed Hokuto up against the wall and kissed him hard, grinding against Hokuto who breathed sharply in return and pulled Taiga closer, fingers almost scratching his waist.

“Oh fucking hell,”

Hokuto and Taiga immediately parted from each other and slowly looked at the direction of the voice.

“Didn’t I give you 5 rooms around the castle for stuff like this?” Shintaro hissed and walked quickly past them. 

"Hey wait! Shintaro, let's talk," Taiga left Hokuto's hold, took him by the hand and chased after Shintaro.

Shintaro halted and turned around. "Oh man, your lips are swollen," he sighed, disgusted.

Taiga grinned, and shook it off of his face. "You have to tell me about that boyfriend Shintaro, we're worried about you! You and Hokuto never show up anymore. You need to tell us what's wrong! You can trust us," Taiga exclaimed, looking at Hokuto and Shintaro, both exchanging guilty looks despite not knowing anything about the other's reasons.

"Kyomoto, you know what's up with us. It's non-negotiable," Hokuto said, letting go of Taiga's hand. 

"Non-negotiable? Okay, now you sound like our parents,"

"Look, I'll leave you two to it. I'm sorry Taiga. I'll come find you another day," Shintaro said and walked away, carrying his broom over his shoulders.

"Kyomoto, we can't keep seeing each other,"

"You don't mean that!"

Taiga knew Hokuto was lying because his voice was revolted by what he just said, and his eyes were pained. "You want to see me. You have to. That's exactly why we're here right now," Taiga added.

"This is a mistake. I should go, can't use the training grounds anyway now that four other people are out there," Hokuto said and turned to walk away. Suddenly, Taiga laced his arms around his shoulders and hopped on his back. "Kyomoto!"

"Call me by my name like a normal person, you coward! I hate you! You will talk to me right here, right now!" Taiga shouted, attempting to strangle Hokuto who was very close to slamming him on his back to get him off.

"Shintaro! Hey, Shintaro!"

They heard voices and Hokuto turned them around. Shintaro was brisk walking down the corridors, Jesse jogging after him, Juri and Kochi falling behind. Jesse finally caught up to Shintaro and turned him around so they faced each other.

"We need to talk," Jesse half-demanded, half-begged.

Taiga loosened his hold on Hokuto.

"What's happening?"

"Maybe... another thing that needs fixing," Taiga replied as they watched Shintaro and Jesse's heated stares.

-

The six of them sat on the grass. Apparently, Jesse was flying at the training grounds, and Juri and Kochi went with him. Upon seeing that, Shintaro went back inside instead of practicing for tomorrow. Juri handed them butterbeers and firewhiskeys, as they watched Shintaro and Jesse's necklaces turn into flowers inside crystals again at 11PM.

"Can I touch it?" Taiga asked Shintaro, smiling in awe. Shintaro nodded and Taiga poked it.

"It's just an ordinary crystal, stupid," Hokuto said and got a glare from Taiga.

"We used to meet every night at 11PM," Jesse started, "to fly on our brooms out here or just walk around the castle. I'd visit him at Hufflepuff's common room. We sometimes meet during summer breaks too."

"You two had a thing?" Juri asked, addressing the elephant in the room. All four of them looked at Shintaro and Jesse, waiting.

And waiting, and waiting. Shintaro only fidgeted, and Jesse looked at him sadly; they didn't know the answer to that.

"That was from first to second year..." Jesse said under his breath.

"Until... Asahi came," Kochi continued for him. Jesse and Shintaro stiffened even more.

"Did he break you guys up or something?" asked Taiga.

"Oh, no! No. Nothing like that," Jesse defended.

"So these are just friendship necklaces? That you two cast a spell on, reminding you of your time together constantly, magically, and timelessly?" Hokuto threw salt on the wound and he swore he saw Taiga smile a bit.

"You can't convince me y'all had nothing going on," Juri smiled.

Shintaro breathed out laughter and they all stared at him. "We convinced ourselves that. Surely, you can believe it too," he finally spoke. Jesse flinched, holding back tears.

"Why did you go for Asahi if you liked each other?" asked Taiga.

Shintaro bit his lip, head still lowered. They didn't know the answer to that.

"Were you pressured into liking Asahi?" asked Kochi.

"That's definitely it. Y'all are freaks about being liked and keeping things at bay," Taiga smirked.

"No. I thought what Asahi had for me was fleeting, something I can afford to lose. That's why when he asked me to build a wall between me and Jesse, I refused and we ended it. Unlike him, Jesse wasn't someone I could afford to lose," said Shintaro. Jesse looked up at him, tears almost impossible to conceal. Shintaro smiled forcedly and spoke up again.

“But I never found out how Jesse felt about me. He never let me know either. So Asahi took me back and I followed his terms. Jesse and I barely met during 3rd year, because I waited for Asahi to come back. We wanted to go back to how things were. It's just that...,” he hesitated, “me leaving before changed him. Or ‘change’ is an understatement. It broke him, and now he's just--"

"A piece of shit?" Taiga interrupted. Shintaro gave him a bitter look. "Woah, don't give me that, he's the one hurting you," Taiga snapped.

"I deserve it," Shintaro answered without hesitations.

"No, you don't!" Jesse hissed. Shintaro looked at him, eyes wide.

"Shintaro, I have never seen you this unhappy and hurt and exhausted. You don't laugh or smile or walk around wearing sunshine anymore. You can't keep doing this to yourself. You can't keep punishing yourself over some past that you had no control over," Jesse lectured while tears streamed down his face.

"This is us making it right. We're just working on our relationship, rebuilding trust," Shintaro gritted. 

"Okay then, do you trust him?" Jesse asked brashly. Shintaro gulped. "Is the relationship working for you?" Jesse asked some more.

"This isn't about me!" Shintaro shouted, making the other four jump on their asses.

"Alright. Okay, then. If it's not for the both of you, then it's not a relationship worth hurting for," Jesse said and Shintaro was taken aback, tears falling from his eyes now too. The other four sat in tense silence.

"You care too much," Shintaro said shakily, wiping his tears.

"Just so you know how I feel about you," Jesse said, voice calm and soft. Shintaro looked at him and smiled.

"That's settled, then. You're breaking up with that son of a bitch." Taiga said, shooting down the moment. They all chuckled.

"You got this man. Can't wait to see you during lunch soon," Juri smiled, and the rest of them did too. The silence turned into peace as they looked up at the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	9. The Calendula and The Iris

"Shintaro, you can't play like this!" Kochi hissed, keeping up with Shintaro as they walked into the tent in preparation for the quidditch game. "Shintaro, you have to listen to me! The medicine I put on you hasn't even fully healed yet." Kochi warned. "I'll be fine, don't worry! It's just a few--"

"Shintaro!" Taiga came running towards him and threw his arms around his shoulders for a hug. Shintaro flinched a little, repressing a grunt from the pain because of Taiga's arm leaning directly on his bruise. "Good luck! I'm rooting for the both of you!" Taiga beamed. Shintaro smiled. "We're not exactly on the same--"

"What happened to your lip?" Taiga asked, observing Shintaro closer who stepped back a bit and covered his mouth. "Oh right! I forked it earlier. Half asleep and too nervous!" Shintaro animatedly said. Taiga was suspicious.

"Fuck off man! Hey! Stop!"

They heard a crash. Shouts and commotion outside the tent alarmed everybody in the tent. "Wasn't that Juri?" Kochi asked. They exchanged confused looks and ran out to see what was happening.

Hufflepuffs stood away from the the guy pointing his wand at Jesse who was down on the ground with Juri. Kochi and Taiga quickly ran to their sides and helped them up. Juri was holding his tummy in pain and Jesse was bleading on the forehead. "What the hell?! You just attacked Gryffindor's head boy, you cunt!" Taiga shouted at the guy. Ravenclaws, including Hokuto, came out of their tent too. "Get a professor." Hokuto whispered to one of his teammates who ran off to do so.

Shintaro took his wand out and disarmed the guy. "Stop this." he firmly said. The rattled guy looked at him, tearing up. Then, he walked up to Shintaro. "You can't break up with me. I'm begging you, Shin. Please? Please, let's make things right? What do you want, huh?"

"Is that--?" gasped Taiga.

"Asahi." Kochi fumed.

Shintaro backed up nervously, caution and fear visible in his eyes. "It's-- it's over. You have to accept that. Don't-- please don't come closer." Shintaro stammered. Asahi walked up to him anyway and was reaching for Shintaro's already bruised arm. Jesse snatched his wand on the ground, pointed it at Asahi and whispered, "Levicorpus."

With that, Asahi was suspended in the air, feet up. Shintaro massaged his own arm, breathing pacing up, panicking from remembering last night. Taiga ran up to him and tried to calm him down. Hokuto noticed his teammate jogging their way, a professor following closely behind. "Jesse!" he called. Kochi tapped Jesse on the shoulder and he let Asahi go, crashing on the ground and groaning in pain.

-

"He should be expelled if you ask me! The nerve! I don't care if he has the face of an angel, you don't attack someone physically and call it love! Or whatever he was trying to get through!" Madam Pomfrey huffed angrily and waddled out of the hospital wing. She treated Shintaro's bruises and he was good to go the next morning but wasn't allowed to play. Jesse was also treated and it healed then and there, but he chose to stay with Shintaro. The other three left to cheer Hokuto and also promised to tell Shintaro if Hufflepuff wins.

Jesse and Shintaro held hands. Jesse lied his head sideways on the bed's edge, looking at their intertwined fingers. "Feels new." he murmured and heard Shintaro softly chuckle. Jesse sat up to look at him. He missed hearing that laugh. He missed hearing Shintaro's voice. He missed Shintaro's warmth when they were close to each other. He missed the comfort and the bliss that Shintaro's mere presence brought. He missed the way Shintaro's eyes lit up everytime he looked at him, like right now. He missed the way Shintaro's lashes fluttered. He's holding Shintaro's hand for the first time but for some reason, he also missed this. Shintaro looked away and covered his eyes with his arm, smiling and flustered. "What?" Jesse giggled in his low voice. Shintaro shook his head.

"You're gonna need a lot of time to heal, Shintaro. I know that. I can do the waiting, you know." said Jesse. Shintaro took a deep breath. Sometimes, he wondered if Jesse heard his exact thoughts at the moment. Jesse drew that out of him perfectly. Shintaro removed his arm from his face and revealed tears as he faced Jesse, nodding with a smile. "I missed you." he said. Jesse beamed and Shintaro felt butterflies in his stomach from the sight.

They both accepted the spoken and unspoken words, because they figured that to be the exact reason why they loved each other in paramount depths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	10. Last Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Few trigger warnings on physical and sexual assault. They're not graphic, and are very brief but still!

"I'll be back in a minute. Wait here, okay?" Hokuto said, leaving a gentle kiss on Taiga's cheek before he left. Taiga smiled as he watched him walk away.

The past 5 weeks were some of the best days of summer break for Taiga and Hokuto. They had talked about it last night while drifting off of their highs after sex. Hokuto held Taiga close and played with his blonde hair, while he ran his fingers on Hokuto's arms. They met almost everyday, took quiet walks at each other's neighborhoods during sundown, and shared coffees during sunrises. They talked and talked and talked about novels and songs, and bragged about their favorite artists to the point of shallow arguing for hours. They always get on each other's nerves and sheets and heads and bedroom windows at 12 midnight. They liked watching the night sky and the rain in quiet, and yet it still wasn't enough. Their affection was so nebulous that it barely fit in 3 words, in screaming moans, or inside jokes. Taiga's mind was filled with Hokuto as if he hadn't had enough or wasn't about to get more of him. While his mind wandered aimlessly, his vision was caught by the dark alley across the street. He heard something and squinted hard. He saw movements but it was dark so he took a step closer.

The place has gone quieter. Lights around every corner and shop turned off and the alley crawled closer to Taiga. A man was forcing a crying woman to undress. Taiga walked up to the guy and suddenly, he grew bigger too, towering over him by a few feet.

The huge man stared him down first, and then Taiga pulled the lady by the hand and they ran. The man pulled Taiga, but he told the woman to keep running and pushed her away. The man took out a knife and pressed the blade on Taiga's neck. He panicked and begged the man to not hurt him, when a thought took over him; Hokuto.

He looked at his left and Hokuto saw them. Taiga begged silently that he don't come, don't come, go away and leave. Run for help. Or just run. Hokuto came over though, and kicked the huge man down to the ground. They were about to flee but the huge man quickly pulled Taiga down on the ground with him, locked an arm around his neck, and pointed the knife at him again.

"No, don't hurt him, please!" Hokuto plead. "Hokuto, wand." Taiga struggled to say. Hokuto shook his head, not willing to risk it. The man strangled Taiga more, tears verging at Taiga's eyes now. Hokuto desperately asked the man to let Taiga go but he was very furious that Taiga let the girl get away, and proceeded to insult them too.

Taiga pulled out his wand.

"Taiga, no!" Hokuto yelled but Taiga had already spoken the spell. The man's hold on Taiga loosened and he choked on black smoke that came out of his mouth. The two of them argued. Hokuto wanted to heal the man because he could possibly die in a matter of seconds. Their argument suddenly morphed into his parents arguing, and then his and Hokuto's parents arguing.

The next moment, he was shifted to the living room when his mom and Hokuto's mom linked arms. Taiga cried out loud in protest but his dad forcedly sat him down. Hokuto's dad was the one who cast the unbreakable vow.

Taiga and Hokuto were never to be together as lovers again.

-

"Should we call a teacher? Fuck, I thought these nightmares already stopped... Taiga?" Ayame said worriedly.

"He's awake now. Taiga? Hey." Yue held his breath while waiting for a response.

The twins sighed in relief when Taiga finally opened his eyes. He was running out of breath and his eyes and chest felt heavy. Ayame handed him a glass of water while Yue wiped his sweat off. After drinking a bit of water, Taiga spaced out and then buried his face on Yue's chest, crying aloud. The twins embraced him and hoped that the comfort they offered was enough to get him through the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	11. Rescue

This is the third night that Jesse snuck Shintaro into his and Juri's room at the Gryffindor dormitory. Shortly after Shintaro and Asahi's breakup, Hufflepuffs started giving him a hard time. The common room would quiet down upon his entrance and he’d receive glares. Some even avoided him to extreme extents around the castle. Kochi stuck with him whenever he could. Teachers agreed to let Shintaro take separate classes from Hufflepuffs, so he joined Slytherin and Ravenclaw classes where he met both Taiga and Hokuto's friends. He now spent every meal, vacancies and weekends with Kochi, Taiga, Jesse and Juri.

Shintaro lied comfortably on top of Jesse as they embraced each other. Shintaro's ear was pressed against Jesse's chest and there it was; the calmest, most assuring sound. Shintaro closed his eyes and unknowingly smiled, letting the peace envelope him.

His energy was sucked out of him for the past three months, begging the universe for a pause, a breather of any kind. He wasn’t allowed to even accept any. He found himself emptying faster than he was being filled. There wasn’t enough good in his reality to anchor him, but right here, right now, there finally is.

Jesse moved his hand to caress Shintaro's hair and play with his ear piercing.  
"What are you thinking of?" Jesse quietly asked. "Nothing... I missed thinking about nothing, having no worries." Shintaro answered, "What are you thinking of?" he asked back. "I'm wondering if you could switch houses so you can stay here forever." replied Jesse. "No, but I can stay forever?" Shintaro smiled, eyes bright; a look that Jesse thought he'd never see again, and words he'd never thought he'd ever hear. Jesse giggled and gave him a kiss before Shintaro leaned on his chest again.

There was rapping on the door.

"Hey! You guys aren't having sex are you?!"

It was Juri. Jesse and Shintaro laughed. "You wish!" Jesse shouted. Juri opened the door slowly, peeking in with one eye shut. When he saw that they were both clothed, he stepped in. "I'm kidnapping Hokuto, y'all coming?"

"What?" Shintaro asked, sitting up on top of Jesse. "Taiga went to fetch Kochi and they're heading to the training grounds. He asked me to get you two, and Hokuto by force. Let's go?"

Jesse and Shintaro looked at each other and back at Juri, both nodding. They all left the room and snuck up to the Ravenclaw tower.

-

"Are you like... any good at flying?" Taiga asked, staring Shintaro's broom down. "Well, probably below average but not as bad as you." Kochi chortled and Taiga scoffed. He lowered the broom and got on it. "It's weird that you need balance, grip, and control for this and that's literally just topping." said Taiga. "Yes, that's why you suck at it." Kochi smirked and Taiga let out an offended gasp. "I'll fucking show you hon." Taiga hissed and he shot up at the sky, screaming 5 different cuss words. He shut his eyes tight, holding on the broomstick for his dear life.

"Taiga! Oh this dumbass. Are you still alive?! Can you hear me?!" Kochi called out to the sky. He only got a whimper as a response and he wanted to laugh but was also too scared for his friend to. He couldn't call for help either because they were out here way past curfew. He looked around in panic and spoke up to the sky again. "Taiga! Don't move okay?! Let's just wait for the others to help! Okay?! Taiga!"

"Alright! Fucking hell. Woah!"

"Oh my god what happened?!"

"Kochi? What's up, where's Taiga?" asked Juri. Right behind him, Jesse and Shintaro locked arms with a defeated Hokuto in between as they marched down the training grounds. "Taiga flew up!" 

"What?!" The other four chorused, alarmed. "How and why?!" Juri asked, looking up at the cloudy night sky. "He was trying to prove that he can ride a broom and apparently, also top." Kochi said. Everyone paused and shared disappointed looks. Knowing full well that Taiga doesn't do good at both, Hokuto took his broom from Jesse and they let go of him. He darted to the sky to fetch Taiga.

Hokuto searched around and found him, frozen in mid-air, eyes closed and possibly also holding his breath. He slowly made his way towards Taiga. "Okay, how do you wanna do this?" Hokuto loudly asked. "What? Hokuto?" Taiga said, whipping his head around. He let one hand go to search for Hokuto's presence around and immediately realized his mistake when the broom jerked forward twice. "Holy shit! Hokuto hurry up and get me down!" He yelped helplessly. Hokuto smirked when he was finally near him. He could easily steal a kiss and watch Taiga flip from the broom from where he was.

"Hey. Open your eyes." Hokuto said, reaching his hand out. "Fuck, fuck! Okay." Taiga cursed and slowly opened his eyes. "Are we very high up? I can't feel my face anymore, I'm--" 

"Just look at me and take my hand, it will be alright." Hokuto interrupted before he goes haywire. Taiga couldn't feel any more air in his lungs but he can feel it against his skin. He trembled as he let one hand go from holding the broomstick. Thankfully, Hokuto was near enough that he didn't have to reach out too far. Hokuto held his hand. "You good? I'm pulling us back down, okay? Don't let go of the broom, I'll be slow." Hokuto assured and Taiga nodded nervously. Hokuto pulled him closely behind, carefully leading the way. Taiga stared at their hands, not liking the hold's lack of intimacy. He moved his hand and laced their fingers together instead. Hokuto subtly glanced and gulped. He felt Taiga shaking so he let it go; perhaps it was just the fear. As soon as they were a feet away from the ground, Hokuto pulled his hand away and they landed.

"Taiga! Don't be so cocky about things you can't handle, that was dangerous!" Shintaro immediately lectured in worry and Taiga nodded, smiling bashfully as an apology. "This gives me an idea though!" Jesse said, standing up from the grass. They all looked at him to listen. "How about we fly in pairs and catch the snitch?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows. "What? The snitch is-- right there, yeah you stole it again." Shintaro was cut off when Jesse fished the snitch from his pocket. "Sounds fun!" Kochi said. "Yeah, I'm in!" Juri chimed in. "Ooh, me too! Me too! Can Hokuto be my partner?" Taiga hopped, already clinging to Hokuto who rolled his eyes. "Sure, if you don't scream your head off mid-air." He coldly teased.

The pairs were Jesse and Juri, Shintaro and Kochi, and Hokuto and Taiga. Juri released the snitch and they waited for a minute. When it disappeared fron sight and earshot, they got on their brooms. The game started with Taiga, as Hokuto had predicted, cussing his way up into the sky. They all met in the middle, but separated when there was no sign of the snitch from there.

"So, have you found out why Hokuto doesn't join us during lunch?" Kochi asked Shintaro. "No. We asked but he kept saying that he was just really busy." Shintaro answered, squinting his eyes to check their surroundings. "That again." Kochi sighed. Shintaro nodded as they flew around. "What do you think it really is?" Shintaro wondered aloud. "I have no guesses since I don't know Hokuto that well. His closest is Taiga. Haven't you heard anything from Taiga last summer? Don't you live close to each other?"

Shintaro flew to their left and began to listen for any sound. "We do, but we didn't see each other at all this summer. Our families usually plan something together for a day but I don't know? His family seemed quite busy. I invited him out once but he didn't reply. I didn't see him out that much too." Shintaro pouted.

Finally, Jesse and Juri found Shintaro and Kochi and they flew over. The four of them didn't really want to play this game. While Juri, Jesse and Shintaro were on their way to the Ravenclaw tower earlier, Juri convinced the couple to squeeze answers out of Hokuto as to why he wouldn't join them for lunch and other vacancies. After Hokuto's solid resolve to make up excuses that none of them even paid attention to anymore, they arrived at the training grounds where there came a chance to leer Hokuto away. Juri, Jesse, Shintaro and Kochi planned to fake the game, pair him up (easily) with his closest among the group so he'd talk, and plant an extendable ear from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes inside Taiga's pocket.

Jesse held the other ear in his hand, voices audible from it. The four of them listened attentively in mid-air as Taiga and Hokuto talked.  
"I told you, there's nothing to talk about. What's done is done." said Hokuto. "I know but maybe... maybe we can do something about it! Promises have loopholes. The vow only included the case and our relationship, that's why we can be together physically right now, and before. There are ways." said Taiga. The four guys frowned upon hearing that, unsure of what's unfolding before them. "When we saw each other last week, I wrote a letter to my family the next day to make sure my mom's safe. I was scared shitless. Loopholes in unbreakable vows can kill people, Kyomoto."

Kochi, Juri, Shintaro and Jesse exchanged mute gasps, their eyes filled with worry and fear. Hokuto and Taiga were quiet after that. The four guys looked around to see if they were found, but they heard Taiga and Hokuto speak again.

"But what if the vows break by simply feeling it? Even if we don't get back together, if we--"

"No! See? That's why I don't wanna do anything with you. I don't want to feel it. I don't want you to feel it. I don't want to risk it. Why won't you just do the same? It's harmless to give the same amount of effort I'm giving." Hokuto brashly said.

Silence.

"You're... you're right. I'm sorry... Can you please let me down now? I'll head back to the common room." said Taiga.

The four guys listening looked down, sadness sweeping over them. Jesse threw the ear up into the air and burned it along with its invisible string. There came silence between them too, all uncertain what to say or do next.

"I guess we have to... retrieve the snitch?" Kochi softly asked, sounding blue. "We have to help them." Shintaro spoke up. They looked at him and there was no visible hesitation, fear, pity or sadness; determination was all they saw and all that he emitted. "We'll help them break the vow." He repeated. "But it doesn't have a counter spell? And it's an incantation. It's going to be trickier to find stuff on that." said Kochi.

"I don't care. I'm helping the person who saved my ass and I'm not watching another good love fall apart." Shintaro replied. One by one, the boys nodded at him, a tell that they were in to. 

They were off to break the unbreakable vow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	12. 2009

Shintaro walked down the hallways to the library with Jesse. Reading was their headstart to breaking the unbreakable vow. It's been a month, and they still haven't found anything useful. It has been a struggle to juggle this with their studies and daily activities. They were reading at night and tried their best to not raise Taiga's suspicion in the morning.

Jesse and Shintaro finally got into the library with a wave to unlock the door. They entered and stuck on their spots for a while, checking in with their senses if they were alone. Since they heard and saw no one, they walked carefully to the restricted section. Jesse successfully charmed off the rope blocking the section's entrance, finally. He's been trying different spells to open it for days now. He held his hand out and Shintaro took it as they stepped in. The space was crammed, dusty and dark but they can only afford one dim light as to not expose themselves. They parted to examine the shelves one by one.

Shintaro has a firm resolve to not to use dark magic. The group received this well, promising that danger is their last resort. They were driven by impatience and exhaustion to this risk trip to the restricted section. They weren't very willing to waste time that clearly made Taiga and Hokuto unhappy and live under fear.

Shintaro looked through Charms books. Most of them were padlocked and didn't have labels, so he was unsure if they were all worth the time and effort to open. They've also been reading on and trying unlocking spells, but the ones for objects other than doors were very tricky. None of them particularly excelled in Charms and their 4th year studies didn't aid much to that. Nevertheless, Shintaro tried his luck with one of the books that sat on the topmost part of the shelf. It was deep green and looked new compared to most of the books. It was secured by 3 enchanted leather belts. He tried an incantation they learnt yesterday. Him and Juri finally made it work without blasting the object they cast it on. Shintaro blinked frustratingly when his wand only sent a faint light that flickered away from the lock. He tried a different one, a recent spell they learnt during classes. That didn't work either. He paused and bit his lip to think. He stared at the blank cover of the book, not wanting to give up and stared at the books next to it. One was black, locked and had multiple sleeping eyes in front. Another was red but upon scanning it earlier, it was only about magical gems that absorbed dark magic. 'Dreamy Incantations' next to it was a spellbook for an eerily controlling Divination. He looked back at the dark green book he was holding and it really was markless. He recalled a revealing spell he learned alone when the other 3 passed out after hours of reading and practicing spells. With a flourish of his wand and a whisper, the book's title was spelled out in golden inscription between the leather locks.

_'The Divines on Breaking The Unbreakables'_

Shintaro smiled. Now he just has to figure how to unlock it.

Jesse swiftly walked to Shintaro's side and tapped on his shoulder, showing him a massive, lilac book. "Look, the unbreakable vow is in one of the chapters." Jesse whispered, excitement evident in his tone. Shintaro got down the ladder and browsed it with him.

"It's... voodoo?" Shintaro asked, taking the book into his arms. "Yeah, but I don't think it's dark magic. There are blood works to control vampire and werewolf bites from manifesting. There are incantations to--" Shintaro cut him off. "Voodoo is sacrificial, Jesse. It requires a lot of soul contact from other worlds. It's gonna take us years to harness it properly." Shintaro lectured. Jesse flipped the pages to a certain page. "I know, but we have to give it a shot. The process to unravel the vow is right here."

Shintaro frowned. "Just because it's not dark doesn't mean it's not harmful, that's why it's in this section."

They heard a creak and a thud. Jesse and Shintaro held onto the books tightly and turned off their lights. They stared outside and Shintaro gestured that they leave. After a mute fight whether to take the voodoo book or not, it stayed in Jesse's hold and they tip toed out of the area. They stealthily walked through the sections and when they got to the door, someone else was just about to open it. Hokuto slowly turned around, peeking through the books towering on his arms.

-

"What do you think this does?" Juri asked, pointing his wand out with his right hand and holding a book with the other. "What does it say?" Kochi asked, focused on writing stuff down a piece of parchment. Juri blurted an incantation and it shot a dull light in the air. They both watched it and a few seconds later, they heard a rumble. "Holy shit." Juri said as the ceiling crumbled. Kochi got up on his feet and they jogged away from the thousand sparks raining down on them. The Gryffindor common room door flew open.

"What the hell?" Hokuto said, staring at the rocks flying down on the floor. Jesse pointed his wand in the air and suspended the rocks. The sparks disappeared in the air and Juri glanced at his book, wand at the ready for another spell. "Don't you dare!" Kochi said, slapping his hand away. Jesse lifted his other hand up and sent the ceiling's pieces back to its place. Shintaro sent ring of light from his own wand and Jesse directed it upwards to seal the ceiling.

"That looks like pretty advanced magic." said Hokuto. "A counter spell to fix the things we destroy." said Shintaro, pointing at the fireplace and Hokuto frowned at its tackily stacked up bricks. "That spell's supposed to be done by one person only but it takes us two." Jesse said as he sat down the couch, putting his leg over Shintaro's who sat beside him. Hokuto put the books he's carrying on top of the table and sat on the floor with Juri and Kochi. "Wait, why are you with them? Hold on..." Juri tracked off. "He was trying to sneak into the library with the same motive as us. He got into a vault inside the restricted section and took out all those. Seems like he's been doing his own research since school started." Jesse explained for Hokuto.

Silence.

"Why are you guys trying to break the vow?" Hokuto asked, recalling the story of how they heard it. "Can't you believe that we're just really that concerned?" Juri smirked. Hokuto gulped and looked at each of them. Kochi was already reading a book and taking notes. Shintaro kept trying to unlock the green book and Jesse was looking up spells to help him. Juri scanned the books Hokuto brought to the table. "Taiga's loved, you know... And Hokuto, _you_ are his one chance at falling in love." Juri said, conviction visible in his eyes, putting Hokuto in a trance who immediately reminded himself to not feel what he wanted to feel.

Juri stood up.

"Alright, I've jinxed the common room enough--"

"You think?" Kochi, Shintaro and Jesse chorused. Juri cleared his throat and spoke again. "I think I've fooled around enough but now it's time to tell you something I've been avoiding for the past few years."

They all stared at him. Jesse and Shintaro were desperately keeping their jokes to themselves since Juri looked so serious about it. Juri took a deep breath and asked. "Please don't-- I hope this doesn't scare you all away. I'm telling you this because it's a chance against the vow. Promise to keep it between us?"

They all nodded. With another deep breath, Juri started. "You know how I have four brothers, right? Well, there's the second eldest, Koki. During his stay here in Hogwarts he... he practiced the Dark Arts in secret with a bunch of Slytherins. There were reports of missing students and brutally killed corpses of magical creatures around the grounds during that time and they suspected his group... He did everything to clean up after his friends and take the blame, then he was banished from Hogwarts... Some of the missing students resurfaced after. We never saw my brother again. It's been 10 years. We receive letters from him sometimes, without his location and all. We're not sure why he's hiding."

They all sat in silence, taking it in.

"Are you suggesting that we look for your brother and ask him?" asked Hokuto. "Well, I don't know... I just think they can help us. The reason I couldn't join you guys for dinner is because I went looking for my brother's records in Filch's office. It took me long time and it seems like there's only one. It's dated to his last day in Hogwarts before he was expelled. Five other people were with him." Juri pulled out a card from his pocket and laid it on top of Hokuto's books. They huddled around read it.

"Wait, it's Akanishi Jin!" Hokuto exclaimed. They looked at him, waiting for an explanation. Hokuto sighed. "He's a really prominent potions student. No one's been able to keep up with the half-blood prince's ability in Potions but him. But, I heard he's no longer involved in magic. He dropped out of Hogwarts in his 6th year. Oh, and Ueda Tatsuya, he's a Ravenclaw heir!" He added, and everyone nodded the information into their brains.

Shintaro pointed at another name. "How about this Nakamaru Yuichi, do you know him?" he asked Hokuto since the name had Ravenclaw written inside a parentheses next to it. "No. No I don't, sorry."

"See, their group was known to be outstanding wizards during their time in Hogwarts. My other brother Hyouga, said they only practiced the Dark Arts to create new Defense Charms. He witnessed them practicing and documenting everything." Juri explained further. "You couldn't find anything else on them?" asked Jesse. Juri shook his head. "That's all he told me in the letter he sent yesterday. Here." Juri said and handed the letter to Jesse. "Maybe we should look up these names on the paper or in school records?" Kochi suggested. "Yeah, that's what I thought. It might help if they still left hidden documents around the castle. Maybe we should do it tomorrow night? Let's look in the room of requirement or the other hidden rooms you two know of?" Juri asked the couple who marked secret rooms around Hogwarts, but Shintaro wasn't paying attention. He was fixated on the green book. Suddenly, Shintaro laughed. They all turned to look at him. The book in his hands was now loose from its locks.

"How did you open it?!" Jesse smiled in surprise. "Apparently, the three belts stand for a month, a date and a year." Shintaro beamed and tossed the book at the table for all of them to see, and he then pointed at the detention record dates.

At last, they were one step closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts so far? Leave comments  
> (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
> 
> If you have questions, comments/reactions, or you just wanna chat about my works, just reach me through [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and give my other works some love too!


	13. Rogue

Shintaro pulled his luggage behind him and wriggled through the crowd in the train as it left for Hogwarts. He took a peak at every carriage until he found where his friends were at.

Kochi slid the door open. "Oh hey!" he greeted Shintaro with a smile and Shintaro did too. He eased his way in, lifted his bags to the space over their heads and finally sat down, letting out a long breath.

"Did the students increase this term or something?" Shintaro sighed. "Everyone just got more clothes now so their bags are stuffy." Jesse replied, kissing Shintaro on the temple. "Where are the other three?" asked Shintaro. Kochi was going to answer when they heard banging on their door. Kochi quickly opened it and Juri and Hokuto jumped in hastily, falling over their luggages. The two panic-chanted to close the door and Kochi did so. Hokuto sent a locking charm towards it for assurance.

"Fucking hell. Is it the apocalypse in here?!" Juri panted, uncomfortably getting up on his feet as Kochi helped him. After Hokuto and Juri settled down, they told the story of how they were both chased down by girls and gays. The trolley came by but they didn't want to risk it, so Hokuto shared muggle treats with them instead.

"So where's Taiga? Isn't he joining us? Or does he know Hokuto's here?" Kochi asked Shintaro, who paused from taking a bite from his Tim-Tam. He cleared his throat, and everyone stared at him worriedly.

"What's up, is he okay?" asked Hokuto.

"They're gone."

"What?" Juri and Jesse chorused. "Why?" asked Kochi. "I don't know. I went down there on Christmas but I didn't find anyone. I asked my parents about it but they were shocked when they found out. And then I... 

"What?" Jesse prompted him to continue. "I sent him an owl that night... A few days later, a different owl came back carrying my owl with injured wings. I feel like my letter didn't even reach Taiga or his reply was... Intervened with."

They all looked at each other, scared and puzzled.

-

"We only know as much as you do." said Yue. Jesse, Shintaro, Kochi, Juri and Hokuto got frowns and eyerolls and were whispered about while they talked to Ayame and Yue on the Slytherin table. "You never sent him letters or anything?"asked Shintaro. "No, sorry. We don't usually send each other letters, you see." said Ayame. "Was something off with him before the Christmas break last year?" asked Hokuto. "We don't think so. If something was up, I bet you guys would notice too, right?" Yue asked them back, and they looked at each other guiltily.

After the eerily quiet feast, Kochi, Juri, Hokuto, Yue and Ayame gathered at the Ravenclaw tower, since the Gryffindor common room was crumbling down from a party. They all waited for Jesse and Shintaro to come back from "borrowing" a crystal ball in the Divination classroom. Ayame and Yue were probably the best Divination students so the five boys asked them for help to track Taiga.

"Hokuto?" Kochi called out, but Hokuto kept fidgeting on his seat. "Hokuto, please calm down. This is our only shot for now. We might get something. If we don't, it's day 1. Maybe one of these days Taiga will come enter those doors, you know. Saying his family train or cruise got delayed or something." said Juri. Yue, Ayame and Kochi nodded and pulled reassuring smiles.

"I can't believe we made a huge fucking mistake." Hokuto gritted. "What?" asked Juri. "Everything we did amounted to nothing. All this fucking research, all this multi-tasking, the damn all-nighters we pulled when..." Hokuto caught his breath.

"...when we should have been keeping an eye on the most reckless person out of all of us." Hokuto managed to get out of his heavy, heavy chest.

\- 

Shintaro and Jesse came back unbelievably fast. They all huddled around Yue and Ayame who placed the crystal ball between them. The twins nodded at each other, held hands, and then closed their eyes. They began the divination.

A few moments later, the other 5 felt the gravity around them getting heavier. The twins opened their eyes filled with all bright, white light.  
"Fuck, it's like Avatar." Shintaro said and Kochi slapped him on the arm since only he understood. White smoke inside the crystal ball started swirling around. They started hearing noises coming out of it, ruffles and garbled howls. A sudden breeze swooped over them and they were pushed on their backs. They heard muffled chatting, glass breaking, wood cracking. The gravity kept weighing them down until they all fell with their knees on the carpet. "What the fuck, miss Trelawney makes it look so easy but is it actually like this?" Jesse said, squinting at the light the twins emitted. A moment later and the light, the wind and the magnetic gravity disappeared. As soon as the twins came into, the five guys crawled up to them to ask what they saw.

Yue started tearing up.

"We're sorry, we can't harness all the power properly. That's why it takes both of us. Taiga was trying to escape." said Ayame. "Escape? From where? From what?" asked Shintaro. "We don't know. There was a shift in scenes. We saw him crying there, looking at the pieces of his broken wand on the ground. We couldn't see the place properly, it was really dark." added Ayame.

Yue sobbed and spoke up. "The next vision was of him running down the woods. And he-- he had-- he had these wounds, these--"

"What wounds? What did they look like?" asked Hokuto. Ayame tried to calm Yue down. "We have no idea where he is and when these all happened. Yue, don't jump into conclusions." reprimanded Ayame. "I'm not! You saw it, Aya! You saw him, we did. We both felt it."

"Fill us up here, yo." said Juri. Ayame hesitated for a moment. "I don't know what kind of wounds these are but obviously he's hurting. He just... seems helpless right now." he sighed. Yue stood up. "You fucking tell them, Aya."

The twins glared viciously at each other. Ayame turned to them, a blank expression plastered on his face. "His body is decaying. We felt from his energy all throughout the vision that he sacrificed something. Something really huge... to dark magic."


	14. Trace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abandoning the one chapter is equal to one day in this universe pattern!! Lmao. Thank you for everyone who are still following this AU 💓 I appreciate you guys a lot!
> 
> Tell me what you think about the Mess so far on the comments! I'd discuss theories or your reactions if you send them to (*´∇｀*) [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/kokinky)

Jesse and Juri walked with their heads down as they followed Filch to the detention office.  
"What did you do?" asked Juri. "I'm not sure which room they found us doing it..." Jesse whispered and Juri shot him a disgusted look. "Well, at least you have some vague idea for yourself."

They entered the room and Filch walked away, closing he door behind them. Kochi, Hokuto and Shintaro were all there as well. Quiet in thought. The two guys jogged to them up front.

"What are you guys here for?" asked Jesse. "Professor Granger asked me and Kochi in our Defense class earlier to come here. We don't really know why." Shintaro answered. They all seemed confused now. "Do you think they found out about the books in the restricted section?" Hokuto asked in a hushed tone and they all exchanged looks. At that moment, professor Granger entered the room. She stood in front of them, looking down judgingly.

"Sorry professor but, what are we here for?" asked Juri. "I take it you already know why." she replied. The five of them did not respond because they had so much possible, and secret, answers in mind that they weren't sure which one was correct. Professor Granger cleared her throat and showed them an already torn open envelope. It had a tiny pressed red seal. "An injured owl, yours Hokuto, brought this in very late last night. It didn't make it into the castle; the gamekeeper found him near the lake. Although, this letter was addressed to no one," she said, flipping the the envelope on its back and front, "so we took the liberty to read it since it seems very... suspicious."

The five guys finally realized what it was. A week ago, they explored explanations and actions about Taiga's situation. After all the fear, panic, and overlapping planning, they decided to send Taiga another owl. While waiting for his reply, they read on about tracking Taiga. They have tried a few spells but they weren't successful. This letter is a result. Hope. Something they expected to fall onto their hands, though.

"It says here, 'it has been undone where he is.'" Professor Granger read. They stayed quiet, trying to conceal all the worry and push many questions to the back of their heads. "If it's my owl, why call these other four?" Hokuto asked boldly. "The letter did not have a signature. Not a proper one, at least." she said and finally handed them the letter. Hokuto almost snatched it off her hand and they huddled to read it. Shintaro gulped and looked at the rest of them, blinking nervously. Juri and Jesse frowned and seemed to read it over and over again, trying to make sense of it. Hokuto let out a sharp gasp and Kochi looked back at professor Granger with a worried look on his face. There was a smudge of blood across the whole parchment.

"From your reactions, I can tell that you all know who this is from." said Professor Granger. They tried to compose themselves as she continued to talk. "We understand that Kyomoto Taiga has not returned to Hogwarts for this term. It's a clear observation among professors, school staff, and some students that you spend a lot of time together. It's safe to assume that you're the people who have seen him last. This letter either tells us nothing or everything we need to know, doesn't it?"

"And why is that your business, if I may ask?" asked Hokuto. Professor Granger raised an eyebrow, staring him down. "Slytherins disappear all the time. This is not surprising or new or concerning. But whatever it is that's become "undone" better not bring danger upon other students in the castle, especially yourselves. We have witnessed this happen before and we are not about to see another outstanding group of wizards fall again just because of the dark arts. It is none of my business, you're right, but it took an owl's wings. It took so much caution and anonimity to send one sentence. This is clearly something risky and if you involve yourselves in this, it _will_ be my business. I will find out the truth and leave the matter to authorities. Is that clear?"

-

A dark cloud loomed over their heads the next day. Kochi, Shintaro, Juri and Jesse lost sleep from studying more tracking spells. Hokuto stared at the letter overnight, hyperanalyzing that one sentence. He was scared to try revealing or tracking spells for it might damage the only thing that could possibly tell them where Taiga is.

During breakfast, the group talked to Yue and Ayame about the letter and asked if they could track Taiga from the material. They said yes. They all met in Jesse and Juri's room before dinner to decode it.

"You have no idea who _he_ is, right?" asked Ayame. "No." the five guys said in chorus. The twins read it again for good measure. Ayame stuck the parchment near his nose and gave it a sniff. "Well, that is blood." he said. The other 5 guys uncomfortably shifted on theur seats.  
"Okay, we'll start." Ayame said, and they did.

Yue pointed his wand at the letter and scratched the surface from afar, like lighting a matchstick. He used the fire floating over the tip of his wand to light a candle. They left it burning while they closed their eyes and whispered an incantation under their breaths alternatively. Hokuto was instructed to turn it off after exactly 3 minutes and circle the envelope once over its extinguishing smoke. Hokuto held it still as they watched the twins silent down. They were also told to empty their minds for the reading would be affected and become inaccurate.

After moments that seemed like a whole day, the Slytherin twins finally opened their eyes. They glanced at each other before Ayame spoke.

"The letter wasn't from Taiga."


	15. Arrival

"We really never found anything here." Shintaro said, browsing The Divines' _'Breaking the Unbreakables'_ book.

"The other books were no good too. Maybe we should just focus on tracking Taiga instead?" asked Jesse. All four of them paused and watched Hokuto pace back and forth in front of them. Ayame and Yue couldn't tell them where Taiga was. They said the location was under very heavy and complicated protection spells.

Hokuto halted. "Are there really no tracking spells in there?" he asked Shintaro, who flipped back to the table of contents. "I've read this twice and no. You've all scanned it too. They're really just general theories of possible ways to break spells but no incantations, no instructions how to do them." said Shintaro. "There has to be a reason why it's so vague." Hokuto whispered to himself. "Should we try more revealing spells?" Juri offered but Shintaro shielded the book. "Oh come on, only two pages burnt off the last time." Juri sighed. "Do you really not know where that guy is?" Hokuto asked, for the nth time. Juri shook his head, for the same amount of time. "I can't believe we've hit a wall." Hokuto grunted and sat beside Kochi on the floor.

Only the fire crackling could be heard within the long silence.

"Say, if it's so general, why do you think it's in the restricted section? You guys said that it might be because it was written by 'outlaws' and whatnot. If it's that dangerous, they could have burnt it or something, could've been surrendered to the ministry too, since that's professor Granger's earlier threat to us; dispose it, basically." said Shintaro. "Yeah, but it's still useful information, right?" said Kochi. "Most of these info are in our Defense Against The Dark Arts books. It's basically useless." Shintaro scoffed.

"You're onto something." Jesse observed. Shintaro licked on his lip and continued explaining, now on the edge of his seat. "If the theories were so dangerous, why keep it? And in a school library? What if it wasn't Hogwarts that wanted to keep it here?"

The other four looked at him with narrowed eyes, keeping up with his analytics. "Are you saying that it's here without Hogwarts' knowledge?" Hokuto continued for him, leaning over the table. Kochi hit a bulb on too. "So this someone secretly put it there because they wanted the information to be known... but it's in the restricted section..."

"Whoever put this here wanted it to reach only a limited audience. A professor can probably use a revealing spell to decode this information real fast. Efforts to encrypt it and sneak the book into that section would be wasted." Shintaro resonated.

"Then, they should have brought it with them if it's that confidential, right? But they didn't." said Juri. "Exactly. That means it's not some book of secret spells. They kept it here for another reason." Shintaro said and stood up. He gestured that the others stand up too and after they followed, Shintaro laid the book on the table. He opened it on the Unbreakable Vow chapter. "Whoever put the book there wanted it to be found by a certain someone; someone they'd like to lead to them." Shintaro finally ended his thought, looking at a slightly teary-eyed Juri. "You're so fucking smart, I love you." Jesse whispered and Shintaro smiled.

The boys formed a proper circle and checked in on each other. Then, they all reached for the book and held on tight.

-

Taiga couldn't feel his legs anymore. He didn't know if he preferred the pain or this numb. He could barely see or hear or breathe anymore so at the end of the day, does it really matter? He reached for a cloth at the top of the kitchen cabinets when suddenly, he felt a sharp shock on the side of his neck and his insides there started to burn. He tried not to make too loud of a sound but he only managed to slightly muffle it. Taiga fell on his knees, crouched over from the excruciating pain. The burning feeling was intensifying every passing second. It came in turns with the electrifying sort of shock and he would squirm everytime.

"Hey! Merlin's beard I left you for 5 minutes and-- where does it hurt?"

The blinding pain on Taiga's neck stiffled his senses even more. He wasn't sure what Koki was saying. Taiga let out a loud whimper when he felt another shock on his chest and the burning sensation slithered down his waist. Taiga was slowly carried to the bed, where he let himself cry and twitch in agony. It's been a month but he will never get used to this, no matter how much his situation improved. The tip of a wood touched his neck and he felt the burning slowly go away. His sight adjusted slightly while he heaved deep breaths. 

"You... can you actually break this curse before I die?" Taiga panted and Koki laughed. "Woah, woah, one curse at a time. Which one are we talking about?" he replied. Taiga covered his eyes with an arm and smiled. Koki stood up and kept talking but Taiga couldn't hear him anymore; the healing spell that Koki eases his episodes with always made him fall asleep. It was the side-effect since the spell, Koki's very own spell, was not fully developed yet.  
Nevertheless, he was glad Koki helped him. He tried to keep away from that memory when they met, not wanting to dream about it.

While he dozed off, he heard the wind howl followed by a bang. He tried to keep his eyes open as he watched Koki peak from the tent and eventually step out.

He heard a familiar voice and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you share this work on Twitter! ❤️ The end is almost near, what chapter or scene is your favorite so far? 🤔


	16. Six

The first thing Juri did was to throw a punch at Koki and before Koki could explain himself, Juri immediately gave him a hug. They were both lost for words, not knowing where to start. The other four greeted Koki politely and asked if Taiga was there. He nodded, admitting that he wasn't expecting a whole group, and but let them all in anyway.

During dinner which Koki prepared impressively quick, Shintaro explained why they were there, although Koki figured that out. After all, he attracts all sorts of problems, ends up spends his whole life fixing them, or at least trying to make up for them.

They all finally saw Taiga again, after 2 long months. Everyone embraced him, asked him what the fuck happened exactly, and listened to the whole story. Taiga went under a sacrificial spell that bonded him and the vow's duration time. His deteriorating body was a sign that the vow was also slowly breaking off. The four boys shared their own discoveries, the beginning of the journey they went through that they kept secret from Taiga, until the very moment they appeared at Koki's doorstep. Hokuto however, was silent the whole time. He barely even ate and listened to the conversation. He was so angry at Taiga that he didn't know what think or say.

Juri helped clean up the dishes with his brother after eating. They decided to drink firewhiskey for a while before Koki starts studying and fixing Taiga's mistake again. It's been almost 10 years but the separation didn't make this moment feel awkward at all. They talked about what happened in the past few years, how much they've changed yet how much they haven't. Juri got tired of talking about the family, school, his friends and surprisingly, himself and his escapades. Koki loved listening to Juri. There was always a heightened energy when he talked, something that made him feel like he was welcome and needed and well, home. Juri probed into Koki's life, to which Koki didn't have much answers to. He had about 50 different, fleeting identities and a hundred discoveries about dark arts and defense against it, but he was alone for the longest time.

"Did you just wait for us to find you while we were in Hogwarts? Our family, I mean." Juri finally asked. "Well, Hyouga graduated 2 years after me, too short for the discovery to be made. It's Subaru's first year there, right? So no, I didn't expect that. They wouldn't have. But you, I knew you would." Koki replied, non-chalantly. Juri shook his head. "I cannot believe you. What the fuck were you doing all these years? What the heck all this?" asked Juri. "These," koki raised an eyebrow with the tone of his voice, "are wooden plates I made by myself." answered Koki.

"Oh, fuck you." Juri said and they both laughed.

-

"We'll leave you two to talk." Shintaro said with a firm pat on Hokuto's shoulder. He went back inside the tent with Jesse, leaving Hokuto and Taiga alone outside. The lamp lit Taiga's face up in the dark of the night. Hokuto hasn't seen him for a while. His roots were now dark and he looked very exhausted. The aura around him was gloomy now too. Taiga has always been a walking wildfire and Hokuto loved being the wind that brushes against him and ignites him even more. It's different now. Maybe he, too, had changed, Hokuto thought. Maybe he isn't as much of a wind now but just barely breathable air. Maybe Taiga couldn't flare up more because he failed to fuel his flames. Or maybe he just didn't need Hokuto that much anymore.

Hokuto hesitated until he finally found a calm spot in his brain, tried his very best to stay there, and walked towards Taiga. He sat down beside Taiga over fallen leaves on the soil and they looked straight ahead, at all the rustling trees and a few fireflies here and there. Taiga moved to sit closer to Hokuto until their arms touched. "You're warm." he softly said.

"That's 'cause I'm alive and you barely are." Hokuto sharply replied. Taiga took a deep breath and smiled as he let it out. "The vow will break this way, though."

"That won't be the only one you'll be breaking."

Taiga glanced at him and nudged him on the arm. Hokuto nudged him back aggressively that he lost his balance. Taiga gasped in annoyance and slapped him playfully but quite hard on the arm as a response. Hokuto smiled. They both missed this.

"You're practically blind, can barely hear from both ears, going through painful shocks throughout the day, and you're still as stubborn as ever." said Hokuto. "I'll definitely roam around as a castle ghost in Hogwarts just to pester you." Taiga jeered. "You're not gonna die." Hokuto assured.

Hokuto paused, desperately keeping himself on that calm spot in his brain. He was slowly slipping out, though.

"You're not." he repeated. To assure himself and Taiga too.

"We don't know that."

"You won't."

"It's dark magic. A tooth for an eye. A life for a vow... I'm running out of time. It's fine, Hokuto. At this point, I really don't care anymore."

"Well, surprise, I do."

Taiga noticed Hokuto rubbing his feet against each other and he looked at him as he spoke up again.

"Is that not enough reason?" Hokuto faced him, eyes watery, brows furrowed. "These people care. So much. That's why we're all here. Taiga, you--!" Hokuto threw his hands in the air. Taiga frowned, feeling sorry for himself. No one knew what to do with him anymore.

"What's the point of breaking the vow if we're not together?" Hokuto asked. "What the fuck do I do with all the love I have left to give if you're gone? What good will your sacrifice do if we can't hold each other or spend time together, like we used to? What were you even thinking, if you were?"

Taiga scoffed. "I didn't know you were all doing this, I was my only hope! I didn't have a choice!" Taiga's voice cracked and he felt tears at the corner of his eyes. "Why was breaking it together not a choice?" Hokuto asked sadly. He felt like he was talking to himself now more than he was asking Taiga.

"Hey, you gave up on me! You didn't want us anymore! Clearly it was the easier option for you to just let it be, and I'm not fucking chasing after you! I've done that enough. So I just went with it. When I found this chance, it was all the cards I had! And it didn't matter if I was gone. You're right, I wasn't thinking. Not one bit of me handled this rationally because I was alone! Alone, Hokuto! And you know I can't--! You fucking know that I--!" Taiga tracked off.

Hokuto wanted to hug him so bad, make it all go away. Make it all feel okay. Fight it off with him. Or at least try. If he wasn't enough, he would still try. That's how they've got here anyway. Him and Taiga trying.

-

Meanwhile inside, the 4 other guys discussed with Koki about the book and the unbreakable vow.

"We didn't create a new spell to break the vow, we just vowed over it. For example, to _'break'_ Hokuto and Taiga's vow, they make a second vow to disregard the first one. But since this was underdeveloped magic, it messed up something; it messed up with the memory..." Koki shifted in his seat, trying to make himself comfortable to make up for the disturbing things he was about to say.

"Our classmates back then suffered nightmares and hallucinations. They'd get these flashbacks that never really happened and it twisted their emotions. Until one day, they slowly forget other things, such as how to do this spell, or what these creatures were called, or where they were. They couldn't comprehend magic anymore. We were then forced to erase their memories for their suffering to permanently go away. Some, we didn't even need to; they just woke up and forgot everything. Then, since it would be bizarre to not know much about yourself and the next morning people are turning into cats and flying on a broomsticks, we sent those people out of the castle. That's how they were reported missing. A lot of our other underdeveloped spells had similar or worse effects. The transfiguration ones were horrifying. Although we managed to fix some, this one took us down. Our spells had fatal flaws."

The boys took a fine minute to take this all in, even Koki. He didn't knew he had to relive it when he met Taiga. He thought he was just taking in a kid that ran away from home, just that this one's badly cursed, but he'll go back. He was wrong. Now he's going through a reminiscent lane.

Jesse pulled another trigger at his train of thought as he asked, "So those you helped break vows, they're alive?"

Koki chuckled. "Course they're alive! I check on them in the muggle world. That's why I stayed away from magical world and, well, a lot of other things," he said, nodding at Juri's direction, "I've been making amends. For the record, they do seem to be having a lot of fucking fun. I also stayed an outcast to develop the spells we made. I didn't want to harm anyone else so I stayed as hidden as possible."

"Alone? How about your friends?" asked Juri.

Koki scoffed, and then smiled gloomily. "How do you think we perfected breaking unbreakable vows?"

Silence. Koki stood up to browse his shelf, almost as if to distract himself or buffer his reaction.

"You all... Forgot each other?" Shintaro asked, making familiar faces appear in Koki's head, mute laughter and all. "We were the last batch that tried layering the vow. It worked. No nightmares, no disruptive thoughts or emotions. And well, no us. Only I remembered. Small price we had to pay. We didn't work that well together anyway." Koki smiled blue. The four guys looked at each other, confused by the stark contrast of his words and the look on his face.

A group of six, trying to break whatever the hell deprived them of freedom. They were worlds different, though. Koki realized that the moment they sat at dinner, the 6 boys talking about all the time they spent together.

All the detentions they endured together because of innocent pranks. They had fun being nasty and making up for it. All the nights they snuck out into the field just for quidditch. The astronomy tower trips to smoke and drink or tell each other scary stories while the shadows of the universe orbit around them. The laughs, whispers, snickers and teasing they shared in classes; they vividly remember. The days they struggled on during exams. All four house parties they attended together. The way Jesse and Shintaro had this affinity when they talked, these eyes when they looked at each other. They way Hokuto smirked or squeezed his eyes shut whenever the rest of the boys make a corny joke or remark. The way everyone laughs and teases Taiga when he gets confused or says something hilariously odd. The way everyone comes at Kochi for no reason. The way Juri balances everyone out. There was something about their time and stories together that exuded a loving energy as a group; as friends.

Koki was reminded of something, but that was darker. What he heard and witnessed during dinner was bright and grounded and real.

Koki faced them, solemnly smiling. "See, some people don't need to be together to do great things. We accepted that... But the six of you just knew you have to do this as one. You didn't know it was gonna be this big and just went for it bravely. So what do you say we set out tomorrow and prove your decision to be right?"


End file.
